b'But unfortunately for Houston, and asTo the east lie the Gulf of Mexico, where things turned out, perhaps the nationAmerican naval power, had it been greater as well, the politicians, not the peoplethan it was at the time might have played dominated the Constitutional Union Party,a great role in keeping the state within the and these politicians were mostly formerUnion. As it was, the Navy successfully Whigs, a party that held great animosityblockaded the Texas coast once the war towards Houston and his Jacksonianbegan but couldn\'t render assistance to beliefs. By the next day, Houston\'s strongestHouston and other Texas Unionists. The northern support, the New York delegation,Red and Sabine Rivers connected Texas had been sundered by the Whigs, despitewith Louisiana. Ironically enough this not the cry of delegate Gerard who uttered: "Weonly prevented Federal intervention, but can\'t carry New York with Bell but we canthe rivers and formidable Confederate carry it with Sam Houston" (Ibid, p.327)! defenses prevented the invasion of Texas by Union General Nathaniel Banks\' ill-It was of no use, as Bell received thefated Red River expedition.nomination on the second ballot, for as the reporter of the New York Herald noted:Thus then, was the Texas geographical "The old regular dyed-in-the-wool Whigssituation. The people of Texas, the cannot swallow the Independent-Soldier- It was no secret that the majority of the men who fought and diedpopulation demographics were as Statesmen from Texas" (Ibid, p. 327). in the battles for Texas independence, at the Alamo, Goliad and Sandisadvantageous to the North as the Jacinto were Southern - born Americans. Thus Texas was bonded to thegeographic isolation was. It was estimated The Whig power machine that hadSouth, by geography, by emotion, and by blood. in 1860 that 90 percent of the white dominated the Constitutional Unionsettlers in Texas were from the Old South Party disliked Houston, so Bell was the(Rupert H. Richardson, The Lone Star nominee. If Houston had been nominated, could he haveComanche, Kiowa - and Apache. Small wonder it wasState, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, prevented a civil conflict? He had many qualities thatthat eight counties along Texas\' northern boundaries1970, p.183). Closer scrutiny reveals that Tennessee appealed to both north and south, and in addition, heopted to remain within the Union in 1861 for it was onlycontributed 42,265 immigrants and Alabama 34,193. The was a national hero. It is conjecture though, whether orthe U.S. Army that kept the Indians off their backs. total Texas population in 1860 was 604,215 of which 182, not he, instead of Lincoln, could have made a difference.921 were Black slaves, pro-Unionist Germans numbered True, the Republican Party might have experiencedBut we anticipate things. To the south, beyond the Rio20,653, and Mexican settlers numbered less than 13,000 a setback, and equally true that the rabble-rousers ofGrande river lay a Mexico that had conducted numerousaccording to official records (Ibid., p. 149).both sides would have been hushed for some time, butraids into Texas well into the 1840s, and even after 25 at the slightest mistake made by the tall, controversialyears of Texan independence and only 12 years afterGovernor Houston himself was Tennessee-born and Texan, the knives would have been out. One sectionalthe conclusion of the Mexican War still cast covetedbred, and it was other white southerners who constituted side or the other would have leaped at his throat. Iteyes at her former possession. This would soon end, asthe first heroes of the Texas Republic. Houston\'s friend would have been interesting though, for a modern-daythe Emperor Maximillian and the French would see toDavy Crockett had also been from Tennessee, Jim historian to feed Houston\'s chances against Lincoln,that. But in 1859, Texas would experience the CortinaBowie from Louisiana, William Barrett Travis from Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge, and John Bell intoraids, which before Cortina, sanctioned by the MexicanSouth Carolina, later Alabama, and James Fannin was a computer and analyze the results. government (he later became a Colonel in the regularfrom Georgia. It was no secret that the majority of Mexican Army) was driven back across the border bythe men who fought and died in the battles for Texas So Houston returned to Texas, reluctantly supporting Bell.the Rangers and by regular U.S. Army troops under theindependence, at the Alamo, Goliad and San Jacinto He had no respect for either of the Democratic candidatescommand of a Colonel by the name of Robert E. Lee,were southern-born Americans. Thus Texas was bonded having clashed with Douglas and taking the measure ofwould witness Mexican Army troops patrolling theto the South, by geography, by emotion, and by blood.Vice President Breckinridge. But he had also stated that hestreets of Brownsville, Texas.had no use for Abraham Lincoln either, stating, "Lincoln,By contrast, the Unionist sentiment in the state was under no circumstances, would I vote for" (Sam Houston,confined mostly to the northern counties of the state, The Autobiography of Sam Houston, edited by Donald Daythough there was a large amount of pro-Union sympathy and Harry Herbert Ullom, University of Houston Press,in the area around San Antonio due partially to the fact Houston, Texas, Norman, 1954,p.266). that much of the population there were dependents of U.S. military personnel.The U.S. Army, the one force Governor Houston was determined to keep Texas fromthat might have prevented secession was garrisoned in seceding - and keeping it in the Union, if possible, if not,small forts on the frontier and in the arsenals in cities an independent entity among itself, though Houston,like San Antonio, where the army garrison was camped a fervent Unionist advocate, totally disliked the veryadjacent to the old Alamo.By the end of 1860, there thought of it. were 2,600 Federal troops scattered throughout the state.But what of Texas and Texans? For Texas in the summerIt was difficult to ascertain the politics of the men in and fall of 1860 was not just a southern state, it was athe camps even as the fateful 1860 election loomed, but troubled state, plagued by Comanche raids and across- according to one historian, while the majority of the the-border invasions by the bandit Juan Cortina, who, itenlisted men were Unionists, the majority of the officers was said, had the support of the Mexican government.were southern sympathizers with one notable exception - Texas in late 1860 was a powder keg of southern-relatedat the time. At the end of 1860 Colonel Robert E. Lee was emotions ready to go off, and the only thing neededin temporary command of the Department of Texas, and being a spark. he was a known Unionist. He had served in Texas before, while back in Washington, D.C. he had commanded the It is worth taking a glance at what Texas was in 1860. troops that had quelled the John Brown insurrection. Lee, a Virginian, disliked secession and while he had been Geographically speaking, Texas may have been thea slaveholder, abhorred that "peculiar institution" but largest state in the Union but it was also the mosthe had also made it quite clear that if Virginia seceded isolated one with the obvious exceptions (then) offrom the Union, he would resign his commission in the California and the Pacific Northwest. To the north layIf Houston had been nominated, could he haveUnited States Army. Lee was a moderate compared to Indian country, or more specifically Comanche andhis commanding officer, the aged General David Twiggs Kiowa country, where raids were quite frequent andprevented a civil conflict? He had many qualitiesof Georgia who was quite open about his southern quite bloody. It was where Texas Rangers and U.S. Armythat appealed to both north and south, and insympathies. The two men would, within months become Regulars maintained a precarious balance betweenaddition, he was a national hero. It is conjecturekey players in a momentous event that would ensure protection of the settlements and falling back. Beyondthough, whether or not he, instead of Lincoln,Texas alliance with the South. the Indian Territory lay "Bleeding Kansas." To the west was the great American desert and plenty more hostilecould have made a difference. Next month, Part 2.ArizonaRealCountry.com February 2020 35'